Bible Commentaries

Numbers 11:31-35 — Hazeroth." "Two cubits above the face of the earth" (Numbers 11:31). "If we suppose that they were drifted by the wind into heaps, which in places reached the height of two cubits, that would satisfy the exigencies of the text."Thomas Whitelaw, op. cit., p. 112. The exact meaning of the text here is somewhat uncertain, and Cook thought that the reference to two cubits described the height "at which the birds, exhausted from long flight, flew above the ground."F. C. Cook, op. cit., p. 208. "Ten homers" (Numbers

Numbers 13:21-24 — which the children of Israel cut down from thence." "To the entrance of Hamath" Throughout the Bible, Hamath is repeatedly referred to as the North gateway to Palestine. Jeroboam restored the ancient Solomonic empire "from the entrance of Hamath," etc. (2 Kings 14:25). "And came unto Hebron" This was a very old city, dating from a time about 1600 B.C.J. A. Thompson, New Bible Commentary, Revised, Numbers (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 183. or even as early as 2000 B.C.W.

Numbers 18:1-7 — iniquity" (Numbers 18:1). "This means take the responsibility of preserving the ritual requirements, and to bear the responsibility for any violations."Lindsay B. Longacre, Abingdon Bible Commentary on the Old Testament (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack Ltd., 1929), p. 306. In connection with this, note that in case any Levite touched the vessels of the sanctuary, not only would they die, but also would Aaron for not preventing it, "neither they nor ye" (Numbers 18:3). As Whitelaw said, however, this clause

Numbers 21:21-32 — took the towns thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there." Here the formal conquest of the land of Canaan began in earnest. Israel conquered the powerful kingdom of the Amorites and possessed their land as far north as the Jabbok (Numbers 21:24). Moses was still in charge of Israel for this campaign and also for that against Jazer, another satellite kingdom of the Amorites (Numbers 21:31-32). Again, Moses mentioned the song (or proverbs) sung by the people in celebration of the victory.

Deuteronomy 14:4-21 — unto the sojourner that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner: for thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk." "These verses agree closely with Leviticus 11:2-23,"T. Witton Davies, op. cit., p. 237. and we have already commented extensively on these regulations in my Commentary (Vol. 3) on Leviticus-Numbers en loco. However, the last sentence above regarding seething a kid in its mother's milk, is a reference

Deuteronomy 2:4-7 — thee; thou hast lacked nothing. So we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion-geber." Critical scholars complain that, "This story differs markedly from that in Numbers 20:14-21!"Anthony Phillips, Deuteronomy, (Cambridge: University Press, 1973), p. 22. Phillips even stated that, "Israel twice petitioned the king for permission to pass and was refused!"Ibid. Von Rad declared that their petition was "hard-heartedly rejected."Gerhard

Deuteronomy 32:37-43 — GOD'S RESPONSE (Deuteronomy 32:37-43) "And he will say, Where are their gods, The rock in which they took refuge; Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink-offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your protection. See now that I, even

Deuteronomy 33:13-17 — interest is, "the good will of him that dwelt in the bush" (Deuteronomy 33:16). Who but Moses would ever have thought of such a designation for God? As Dummelow pointed out, "Jehovah revealed himself in the bush as the Deliverer of Israel (Exodus 3:2; Exodus 3:6-8). The latter part of this verse is identical with Genesis 49:26)."(Footnote No. 14 is missing from the book.) In Deuteronomy 33:15, the parallelism of "ancient mountains" and "everlasting hills," found frequently in Hebrew poetry was noted

Deuteronomy 8:11-16 — who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not; that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end." "Beware lest thou forget Jehovah thy God" (Deuteronomy 8:11). (See under Deuteronomy 6:12 for discussion of this warning, a warning which occurs several times in Deuteronomy. The warning in this paragraph is, "that luxury and ease could blunt the edge of Israel's awareness of God.Meredith G. Kline, op. cit., p. 166. "Wealth is likely to

Joshua 12:1-6 — border of Sihon king of Heshbon. Moses the servant of Jehovah and the children of Israel smote them: and Moses the servant of Jehovah gave it for a possession unto the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh." "Chinneroth" (Joshua 12:3). This body of water is called Chinneroth, Tiberias, Gennessereth, and Galilee in the Bible, also with variations of "Sea of" or "Lake" in each instance. The "Sea of the Arabah" is the Dead Sea. Pisgah was a dramatic promontory overlooking the Arabah,

Joshua 14:2-5 — their cattle and for their substance. As Jehovah commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did; and they divided the land." The preliminary fact of their being only nine and one-half tribes to inherit west of the Jordan is here explained in Joshua 14:2, due to Moses' having already awarded two and one-half tribes their inheritance on the east of Jordan. Also, we have the explanation of how it came about that after one of the twelve sons of Jacob, namely, Levi and his tribe were not to receive a landed

Joshua 9:16-21 — that they had been deceived, but when they continued their march via Gibeon, they discovered the truth from the Gibeonites themselves. Did Israel honor the covenant? Yes. What then, could be the grounds for the assertion of Sizoo that, "Joshua 9:17-21 are from a different source."Joseph R. Sizoo, op. cit., p. 600. The only possible source of such a speculation, which is obviously incorrect, is the fertile soil of some scholar's imagination. "All the congregation murmured" (Joshua 9:18). Why did

Judges 1:1-7 — been expected, Dalglish supposed that the two names are actually references to the same person, basing his theory upon the fact that nowhere else in the Bible is the sacred name [~'Adonay] linked to a geographical location.Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 391. This does not appear to this writer as sufficient grounds for such a conclusion. This record of the cruelty executed upon Adonibezek was no doubt included as an example of the "lex talionis," retribution in kind. Adonibezek himself accepted

Judges 13:2-7 — thing; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb to the day of his death" "A man of Zorah" "This was a Danite city fifteen miles west of Jerusalem and fifteen miles east of the Philistine city of Ekron."Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, 440. "No wine nor strong drink… nor any unclean thing" "The words `strong drink' must mean `beer,' because there were no distilled liquors in ancient times… the Philistines used an awesome amount of beer."The Anchor Bible Commentary,

Judges 15:1-3 — like that of Gideon and his concubine, in which the wife continued to live in her father's house, with the husband paying occasional visits. Myers tells us that the technical name of such a marriage was "a sadiga marriage."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 2, p. 786. The gift of a little goat for his wife seems also to have been the customary price of conjugal visits, that being exactly the price that Judah agreed to pay Tamar for his "going in unto her," not knowing that she was his daughter-in-law (Genesis

Judges 9:50-57 — have "thrown" so large a stone and therefore must have "dropped it" upon Abimelech, have evidently overlooked the fact that there were two types of millstones: (1) There was the large one, called, "the millstone drawn by an ass" (Matthew 18:6); and (2) there was the "upper stone" held in the hands of the women grinders who milled the corn in those ordinary hand mills like those used by the North American Indians. For years, this writer had one of these in his office, and that "upper millstone" weighed

Ruth 1:19-22 — beginning of the barley harvest." "All the city was moved" "It appears from this that Naomi was not only well known, but highly respected in Bethlehem. This is proof that Elimelech was of high consideration in that place."Adam Clarke's Commentaries, Vol. 2, p. 194. "And the women said, Is this Naomi?" This emphasis upon the women came about, in all probability, because all of the able-bodied men were busy in the barley harvest. "Call me not Naomi, call me Mara" Naomi (sweet) and Mara (bitter) were contrasting

Ruth 2:17-23 — maidens. "It is good that… they meet thee not in any other field." "The word `meet' here is often, though not necessarily, used of hostile encounters, and perhaps here implies the dangers run by an unprotected foreigner."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 2, p. 844. That danger, of course, would be much more acute in the case of an unprotected foreign woman, especially a young and attractive one.

1 Samuel 14:24-30 — enemies." In this abbreviated account, not all of the oath was repeated. One finds the rest of it in 1 Samuel 14:44, "God do so to me and more also, you shall surely die." One finds the exact words of this oath on the lips of the pagan Jezebel (1 Kings 19:2); and Jezebel herself couldn't have said it any better than Saul did. In this connection, we cannot understand how any scholar could write that, "So far from Saul's oath being, rash, ill-advised or arbitrary, it was the logical expression of his carefulness

1 Samuel 15:10-16 — Judah, apparently the modern el-Kurmul, about seven miles south of Hebron."John T. Willis, p. 156. "Saul said, "Blessed be you to the Lord… I have performed commandment of the Lord." Saul here employed a double strategy involving (1) flattery and (2) outright falsehood. His warm greeting to Samuel was not sincere but given in the hope of avoiding the condemnation Saul knew that he deserved. His claim that he had obeyed the commandment of the Lord was an outright lie. We cannot agree for one moment